Jeff Sessions will recuse himself from Trump-Russia investigations amid scandal

Impact

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Thursday he will recuse himself from any investigations relating to President Donald Trump and his campaign aides' possible communication with Russia.

Sessions' recusal comes one day after news broke that Sessions had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign, despite telling a Senate committee during his attorney general confirmation hearings that he never met with any Russian officials.

Sessions denied those meetings under oath, leading Democrats to accuse Sessions of perjury.

Despite recusing himself from DOJ-related investigations into the Trump campaign's possible Russian contacts, Sessions denied he did anything wrong. 

"I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign," Sessions said at a news conference. "And the idea that I was part of a 'continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government' is totally false."

More than 40 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle called on Sessions to recuse himself from any Justice Department-led investigations relating to Trump or his campaign aides' communication with Russia during the election.

"Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself to ensure public confidence in the Justice Department's investigation," Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, said in a statement on Thursday.

But for more than 60 other Democrats, Sessions' recusal is not enough.

They've called on Sessions to resign his role as AG.

Trump, for his part, expressed "total" confidence in Sessions.

When asked whether Sessions should have to recuse himself, Trump told reporters, "I don't think so."

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.